It didn’t have to happen this way. The Sixers are about to turn the point guard position over to Lou Williams, who never has really played point guard before in the NBA, while letting resident point guard Andre Miller leave for nothing.

The Sixers could have traded Miller before the deadline in February, gotten something in return while finding out if Williams could play the position over the final two months of the season.

Now, the 76ers are going in blind, not knowing if Williams can be an effective NBA point guard.

That’s because Sixers President and General Manager Ed Stefanski decided to keep Miller at the deadline, then take the chance that he would re-sign him over the summer.

Yet, Stefanski had to know in February he couldn’t keep Miller, that the salary cap and luxury tax numbers would either stay the same or go down. That means he couldn’t give Miller anything near the $10 million a year he earned last season and that Miller wasn’t going to commit to anything more than one or two years.

Stefanski had nothing to lose by giving Williams the opportunity back then.

Maybe Stefanski didn’t want to give the impression of surrendering to the fans.

The Sixers went 14-4 leading to the All-Star break. They were within a game of fifth in the Eastern Conference, which would have meant avoiding Orlando, Boston and Cleveland in the first round. They would have had a chance to make it to the second round.

The Cleveland Cavaliers signed free agent forward Jamario Moon to an offer sheet, and the Heat has seven days to decide if it will match.

BARRY JACKSON

The Lakers said last week that they were pulling their bid for Odom because his agent had not responded to the offer, but left open the possibility talks could be revived. A Los Angeles TV station reported that Odom called Lakers owner Jerry Buss to try to smooth over the situation.

The Lakers have offered Odom $30 million over three years or $36 million over four years, according to The Los Angeles Times.

Moon, 29, earned $712,000 last season, and the Heat had extended him a $1 million qualifying offer, but only $250,000 is guaranteed. That now becomes moot, with Moon signing an offer sheet.

Moon averaged 7.1 points and 4.5 rebounds and started 21 of 26 games for Miami after being acquired Feb. 13 from Toronto in the Jermaine O’Neal/Shawn Marion trade. Moon led the NBA in steals-to-turnover ratio last season but missed the Heat’s final four playoff games after sustaining a sports hernia.

If the Heat matches the offer sheet, it would not be permitted to trade Moon until Dec. 15.

If the Heat does not match the offer, it would have three small forwards on its roster — James Jones, Yakhouba Diawara and Dorell Wright. The Heat also intends to use power forward Michael Beasley some at small forward.

Meanwhile, the Heat has explored the possibility of trading for Utah power forward Carlos Boozer, but Odom is the priority for now.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have signed restricted free agent Jamario Moon to an offer sheet.

Moon spent last season with the Heat, who yesterday confirmed the offer first reported by ESPN.com. Terms were not disclosed.

Calls to Joel Bell, Moon’s agent, were not returned.

Miami has seven days to match the offer. Moon averaged 7.1 points and 4.5 rebounds in 26.5 minutes per game last year.

The Heat already have a glut of wing players and team president Pat Riley has often said often over the past few weeks that salary cap and luxury tax restrictions could force Miami to keep as few as 13 players on the roster as opposed to the maximum 15.

Moon has spent four seasons in the NBA, the first three with Toronto, averaging 7.8 points and 5.4 rebounds.

Their own free agents, David Lee and Nate Robinson, still are unsigned and resenting the Knicks by the hour. And the Knicks summer-league team — stacked with their two first-round picks, Jordan Hill and Toney Douglas, couldn’t win a game in Las Vegas, going 0-5.

It went from bad to worse for the summer squad. Douglas was injured for the finale with a bruised calf and the Knicks finished 0-for-Vegas in an 89-84 defeat to Washington at UNLV.

After four nondescript, foul-prone games, Hill salvaged the tournament with his best outing, dunking his way to 21 points and 7 rebounds, but hardly solidified himself as guaranteed rotation player as a rookie.

Hill, the eighth pick, finished the summer league averaging 12.8 points and 8.5 rebounds, but didn’t impress on the defensive end, averaging six fouls per game.

Douglas, who shot just 28 percent but averaged 9 points and 7 assists, showed enough floor-general skills to make a larger impression and be slated as the club’s backup point guard.